Yagi: China evacuates 410,000 ahead of super typhoon

China has evacuated some 400,000 people as one of the year’s most powerful storms is expected to make landfall in the popular tourist island of Hainan later Friday, state media report.

Trains, boats and flights in the area have been suspended for a second day, while schools remain shut in parts of the broader southern region as super typhoon Yagi closes in.

Yagi has doubled in strength after wreaking havoc in northern Philippines early this week. It is currently packing winds of up to 240km/h (150mph) near its eye.

Meteorologists say Yagi may cause “catastrophic” damage in Hainan and neighbouring Guangdong, which is also China’s most populous province.

Yagi is an “extremely dangerous and powerful” super typhoon which will soon make a “potentially catastrophic” landfall, the Indo-Pacific Tropical Cyclone Warning Center wrote in an advisory on Thursday.

A super typhoon is equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane.

Authorities in Hainan have ordered all tourist attractions to be shut since Wednesday, warning of “massive and destructive winds”.

The world’s longest sea crossing, the main bridge linking Hong Kong with Macau and Zhuhai in Guangdong, was also closed.

Parts of the region have been experiencing heavy rainfall and strong gales since Thursday. China’s weather authority expects rainfall to reach up to 500mm.

Hainan, which boasts sandy beaches and clear waters, is no stranger to typhoons. But just nine of the106 typhoons that have landed in Hainan from 1949 to 2023 were classified as super typhoons, Reuters reported.

Chinese authorities believe Yagi will be the strongest typhoon to hit its southern coast in a decade.

Yagi is expected to make another landfall in northern Vietnam late on Saturday in a weakened state.

Vietnam’s deputy agriculture minister has warned that it could hit regions “crucial to the socio-economic development” of the region.

“Carelessness could result in catastrophic damage,” Nguyen Hoang Hiep said.

Four airports in the country’s north, including Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport, will be shut on Saturday in antipaction of the storm, Vietnam’s civil aviation authority said.

Earlier this week, floods and landslides brought by Yagi killed at least 13 people in northern Philippines, with thousands of people forced to evacuate to safer ground.

Scientists say typhoons and hurricanes are becoming stronger and more frequent with climate change. Warmer ocean waters mean storms pick up more energy, which leads to higher wind speeds.

A warmer atmosphere also holds more moisture, which can lead to more intense rainfall.

Yagi comes a week after typhoon Shanshan hit Japan, killing at least six people and injuring hundreds.